


I Wished You Could Forget

by HoshinoAria



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Adam (Voltron) Lives, Adam (Voltron)-centric, Adam-Centric, Allura & Adam & Lance (Voltron) are siblings, Allura & Lance (Voltron) are Siblings, Altean Adam (Voltron), Altean Lance (Voltron), Altean Prince Adam (Voltron), Altean Prince Lance (Voltron), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Amnesia, Comedy, Evil Zarkon (Voltron), F/F, F/M, Fix-It, Gen, Good Lotor (Voltron), Good Zarkon (Voltron), Lance (Voltron)-centric, M/M, Mind Control, Multi, Protective Adam (Voltron), Quintessence (Voltron), Rebels (Voltron) - Freeform, Redemption, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-15
Updated: 2020-09-30
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:27:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,573
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25288303
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HoshinoAria/pseuds/HoshinoAria
Summary: “Adam?”Adam turned back to look at the little face peeking out from underneath all the fluff. “Yeah, Lancey?”“Are the Paladins real?” Lance’s eyes were wide with hope as his mind raced with possibilities.Adam was quiet for a moment before answering. “No, Lance. They aren’t. Just some stories that I made up.”“I wish they were though...” It was said with a sort of pouty disappointment that was trademark of a sad Lance. It didn’t seem fair. How can Santa and his flying reindeer be real but not the Paladins?“... Me too… It’s late now, Lance. Go to sleep.”And so, the 6 year old drifted into dreams of friendly elves, shiny white armor, and big cats made of metal.-------What if Lance and Adam were brothers? But not only that, what if they were also brothers of Allura (aka an alien space princess)? Follow this story of an alternate reality where these things are true!
Relationships: Acxa & Ezor & Lotor & Narti & Zethrid (Voltron), Adam & Allura & Coran & Hunk & Keith & Lance & Pidge | Katie Holt & Shiro, Adam & Allura & Coran & Matt Holt & Hunk & Keith & Lance & Pidge | Katie Holt & Shiro, Adam & Allura & Lance (Voltron), Adam & Lance (Voltron), Adam/Shiro (Voltron), Haggar/Zarkon (Voltron), Hunk/Keith (Voltron), Lance/Lotor (Voltron), Zarkon/ Honerva (Voltron)
Comments: 24
Kudos: 140





	1. Night Out Gone Wrong

**Author's Note:**

> Voltron does not belong to me and all recognizable dialogue and scenes belong to DreamWorks and all of the story's respective creators. This is piece is a work of fan made fiction created simply for fun.
> 
> This story will have very familiar scenes, especially in the beginning, before I begin to diverge more drastically.

“And just when the King and his friends thought that they were absolutely cornered... that there was no way out… that this might very well be the end.... The walls began shaking all around them! And then -”

“Bang!” Small hands were thrown up in the air to emphasize the sheer power of the explosion.

“That’s right, lil’ bro! Bang! The Red Lion was knocking itself up against the enemy ship and ripped the wall clean off to save the day!”

The child smirked triumphantly from where they laid propped up on their bed. “Well, of course! That’s Red for you!”

“Heh. That’s right, kid. Red always was the protective one, just like their Paladin.”

“Red is cool and all, but Blue is the best!”

“Yeah? You think so?” The child nodded their head vigorously and the older brother couldn’t help but smile at their little brother’s enthusiasm. “Well, I think so too. I also think it’s time to go to sleep.”

The child was about to protest before the brother gave him an expectant look. Giving up, the child snuggled down into their comforters as the older brother bent down to kiss his forehead goodnight. Just when he dimmed the lights and was about to leave the room, a small voice called out softly.

“Adam?” Adam turned back to look at the little face peeking out from underneath all the fluff.

“Yeah, Lancey?”

“Are the Paladins real?” Lance’s eyes were wide with hope as his mind raced with possibilities.

Adam was quiet for a moment before answering. “No, Lance. They aren’t. Just some stories that I made up.” 

“I wish they were though...” It was said with a sort of pouty disappointment that was trademark of a sad Lance. It didn’t seem very fair to him. How can Santa and his flying reindeer be real but not the Paladins?

Adam let out a heavy sigh. “... Me too… It’s late now, Lance. Go to sleep.” 

“Okay,” Lance resigned but continued with, ”but can you stay with me?” Adam was about to say no because he had some homework he planned to do until Lance continued in an even smaller voice than before. “... I’ve been having that one nightmare again...” Lance was no longer looking at Adam but at any other place he could lay his eyes on.

That nightmare has been plaguing Lance for a while now and they will probably never go away and there was little Adam can do about it but be there for him. That thought deeply pained him. “Okay.”

The door was pulled closed, and Adam snuggled up together with the 6 year old who drifted into dreams of friendly elves, shiny white armor, and big cats made of metal. 

* * *

“I don’t think this is a good idea, Lance.” The lights all around them started to shut down as curfew started. 

“Aw, come on, Hunk. You heard what Iverson said. We need to _bond_ , so let’s take Pidge, head to town, pick up pizza, and hang out with some hot party animals.” 

_Pizza, huh_. Hunk can come around with that. The pizza at the Garrison was disgustingly greasy and the cheese plopped off the crust like some sort of dairy symbiote. “Well, just for the record, I said this wasn’t a good idea first. And you’re paying for the meal tonight then.”

Lance just rolled his eyes at his friend before expertly leading the way through the halls. 

“Fine, but we really need to go out tonight. Today really sucked.” Their group didn’t really do so hot in the flight simulation today, and… 

“You had another nightmare last night, huh.” Lance looked back at him in question. “You were mumbling again last night,” Hunk pointed out with a slight shrug.

“Oh, I was? Sorry if it woke you up, buddy.”

“Nah. I’m used to it by now. Was it the same one with the fire and your brother?”

“Yeah. It was.” Hunk nodded his head in empathy. 

That nightmare has been haunting Lance for as long as he remembered. It wasn’t that it was a very detailed dream or anything. In fact, it was fairly simple: he was a little kid in his dream and his brother was holding tightly to him as he carried him somewhere. The walls and ceiling were breaking apart, the lights were flickering, and there were sounds of explosions nearby or in the distance, leaving fires blazing up here and there. There was a roar and suddenly they were in a room lined with blue lights all around. His brother would lay him down somewhere, and then he’d suddenly feel very cold before waking up in a cold sweat.

Lance didn’t understand that dream. He asked his parents about it, but they said they don’t know much about his circumstances before they adopted him and his brother. And Adam said that that never happened and that it was probably from Lance always insisting that he watch scary movies with him, even though Adam told him he probably couldn’t handle them. Even so, that dream felt very realistic even though it was so bright and bleary that he couldn’t actually make out his brother’s face. He only knew it was him because of his voice and annoyingly tight trademark hugs.

He hadn’t had this dream for a long while until they started coming almost nightly for the past week.

Just then, footsteps started approaching, so the two of them climbed into some trash bins for cover - which would have been really gross if they didn’t get emptied out every night.

“I still don’t get how you’re so good at sneaking out,” Hunk whispered from his own bin as the security guard passed.

“Practice makes perfect, man. Also, perks of having two siblings in the program too.”

When the two finally got to Pidge’s dorm room, the door suddenly opened. The two hid around the corner as Pidge ran out of the room and headed down the hall in the opposite direction. 

“Looks like our little friend has plans of his own tonight.”

“Wow! Great!” Hunk clapped his hands together. “So since they have their own plans already, maybe we should just let him be and go back to our dorm room???”

“For someone in the space exploration program, you sure have no sense of adventure. Come on, let’s go see what he's up to.” Lance zoomed down the hall after Pidge, and Hunk begrudgingly followed. 

They followed Pidge up all the way up to the roof where the young boy had all his computer stuff laid out neatly around him. His head phones were on and he appeared very focused, so it was very easy to startle Pidge when they sneaked up behind him. 

“Gyah!” He jumbled his notebook in his hand in surprise then glared at the two for spooking him. The glare was ignored. 

“Cool setup. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Garrison tech like that here,” Hunk pointed out. 

“Yeah, that’s cuz I made it myself.” Pidge puffed up proudly after having recovered from the surprise visit. But then frowned again. “What are you guys doing here? You won’t snitch on me will you?” 

“Of course not,” both Hunk and Lance exclaimed with their hands waving in front of them.

“We were actually looking for you to have some bonding moments,” Lance continued.

“And if you haven’t noticed, we’re outside too, so we would get in trouble too,” Hunk pointed out. “Anyways, since we’re here, tell us about what you’ve got here, bud.”

Pidge relaxed and continued talking with her previous level of excitement. “Well, get this! I made a receiver that can pick up radio signals! But not just any radio signals, but signals from all the way up to the edge of the solar system.” 

“Really? All the way to Kerberos,” Lance asks knowingly, because he knew that was the exact question Pidge wanted to be asked next. Yeah, Pidge’s obsession of the place and the Kerberos incident was kinda apparent. Lance couldn’t blame him though. He feels like something was up with the “failed” Kerberos mission too. Shiro was like his hero (Heh. That rhymes)! He was the best pilot ever and there was no way there was just a piloting error.

“Yeah, it does and that’s why I made it.” Pidge looked a little saddened about it even though he’s usually so heated about the topic. He quickly shook it off though. “Anyways, I’ve been receiving alien radio chatter and, though I don’t understand a lot of it, they’ve been repeating one word over and over increasingly.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Slow down. Aliens? Are you crazy?” Lanced waved his hands in denial.

“Are you saying aliens exist? And they’re in our solar system??? Are we, like, safe? Are they coming here soon???” Hunk was obviously freaking out, wringing the fabric of his shirt in his hands.

“Yeah! They exist and stop interrupting me! Anyways,” Pidge holds up a piece of paper full of little doodles and a word that has been underlined a dozen times over. “Voltron. They keep repeating it, so it’s got to mean something.”

“Vol..tron?” Lance tests the word in his mouth. The word sounds so familiar? “Like Ultron?”

“I’m actually not sure, but maybe-” 

Before Pidge could say anything else, the alarm system started blaring. “...Lock down. All students are to stay in their dorms. I repeat-”

“Okay! I told you this was a bad idea going out tonight! We need to go back inside!” Hunk was about to haul the two of them inside when-

“Look at that!” Lance pointed up.

Hunk’s stomach dropped. “Is that a meteor?” _Oh no. We’re gonna go extinct._

Pidge looked through his binoculars to take a closer look. “It’s no meteor. It looks like a spacecraft!”

Lance yanked the binoculars with Pidge still attached to take a look too. “Holy crow! That is definitely not one of ours.” The design of the ship was otherworldly and sent a weird shiver down his spine and through his limbs.

“No. it’s one of theirs.” Pidge quickly begins packing up his stuff before flinging his backpack over his shoulders. “We’ve got to check it out!” Pidge zooms away and Lance quickly follows with Hunk close at their heels. It was crazy but Hunk couldn’t just leave them nor convince the stubbornly curious duo that this was a bad idea. If you can’t fight them, join them and try to keep them as far away from death as possible. God, was this the worst team building exercise ever though.

By the time that the trio got near the crash site, the Garrison had already set up there. Hacking into the security system Pidge was able to bring up a feed of a familiar man dressed in tattered purple clothing and shocking white bangs. 

“That’s Shiro!” Lance couldn’t believe it! He gasps. He thought he was dead! And more importantly, someone else thought he was dead. “I need to tell my brother.” He was about to call his brother when the chatter from the video caught all of their full attention.

“Why aren’t they mentioning anything about the other crew members?”

“Hey, he just mentioned Voltron.” 

“They aren’t even answering him or hearing him out!”

“We’ve got to save him!”

“But how? Isn’t the impenetrable barrier the whole point of why we’re watching it from a screen?”

Just as they were thinking of what to do and Hunk gave one last shot of convincing the others to head back, there was an explosion.

“What was that? Was that the aliens attacking?”

“No, Hunk.” Pidge points over at a hoverbike entering the scene from the opposite end. “It’s a distraction for him!”

“That’s, Keith! I can recognize that mullet anywhere!” Lance loses no time as he slides down the hill they were stationed at. The other two quickly followed in a scurry. 

“Who’s Keith????” Pidge questions as they slide along the dirt. How the heck did he even recognize him from this far away? Hunk already knew but he won’t waste his breath. He just knew that Lance was gonna rant about him in detailed distaste later.

When Pidge and Hunk caught up with Lance, they were greeted with the sight of both Keith and Lance on either side of Shiro, getting along as well as they usually do.

“Who are you?”

“Uh, Lance? We shared a class together! You know! Lance and Keith, neck to neck. We’re like rivals!”

“Oh, you’re that cargo pilot.”

“That’s fighter pilot now since _you_ washed out. And have some respect. I’m like your uncle or something.”

“What?” 

“Well, you would know if you actually went to dinners instead of moping around like a 2012 emo Tumblr user!”

“Uh guys, we really gotta go.” Hunk jabs his thumb at the exit. “The others are coming back and they do not look happy!” At that, they all scramble to get the hell out of there.

One wild and crowded hoverbike ride later, the group finally was able to evade the Garrison officials and settle down a bit at Keith’s desert hut. Shiro was slowly coming out from his induced sleep and everyone else was exhausted after their adrenaline rush passed, but it was no time to rest. They were being hunted down by government officials, and they will soon come follow their trail to the hut. From the suggestion of Pidge, they disabled all their devices from allowing tracking. Lance had wanted to call his brother, but it wasn’t appropriate now since it might attract trouble. He decided that he would contact him once things have cleared up a little bit and they find themselves in safety.

Unknown to Lance, he won’t get that opportunity. 

* * *

Adam was already a good 15 minutes into his sleep when his eyes snapped open. Something was wrong. Really wrong. Whenever he got this feeling, it usually revolved around “... _Lance.”_

The lock down alarm blared. “... stay in their dorms… I repeat-” _Oh no._ Lock downs were reserved only for the most serious situations. There could have been a number of different reasons for it, but Adam could feel a pulsing, cautionary energy that told him exactly what was going on. Something he never hoped would be. But it couldn’t be. There was no way!

Just then, he heard a distant crash. 

He wasted no time. Adam got up, got dressed, and grabbed a bag he always had prepared in case something like this happened. Before leaving the door, he backtracked a bit to grab a framed photo from a shelf and shoved it in his bag along with the other things.

Entering the hall, some students were standing at their doors or grouping at the hall to talk about what the heck is going on right now. There were also some guards and other teachers who were out that were trying to calm down some of the students or were trying to shuffle them all back into their rooms. 

“Professor McClain?” To his left stood four of Adam’s students who were a close knit of different personalities that somehow worked well together. It was the small blonde who had called out to him.

“Professor, what’s going on,” The dark skinned boy then asked. “If there’s a threat, shouldn’t we be evacuating?” 

“We heard the sound outside. What was that?” The girl with the dark skin tone and the almost purplish hair was the one who had spoken.

There was a fourth boy, who had a lock of hair that never seemed to slick back with the rest of his hair. He didn’t say anything. Instead, he had his arms crossed as he seemed to wait impatiently for his friends to finish asking questions.

He could see the worry on their faces, even the last boy, and his own worry on his own face probably wasn’t helping much either. As dangerous as what they teach at this school may be, a lock down was pretty unusual since the facility had pretty good security and that they were literally in the middle of nowhere. To be truthful, Adam couldn’t really tell if they were in immediate danger right now, or if he was actually just being paranoid (as he often is) or not, but he knew one thing:

“The Garrison will do everything in our power to ensure your guy’s safety. I can’t say for sure why we are in lock down, but let’s put our trust in what the head says for now.” He knew it wasn’t much but there was no way that he or any other of the Garrison staff could let something just happen to the students. “So let’s all get back into our rooms so that we can do a headcount, okay?”

The last boy finally spoke up, “Okay, Professor. Come on guys. Let’s stop worrying and go back to sleep. We’ll still have classes tomorrow.” He turned and headed back into his own room. The others soon followed, worry still evident on some of their faces. 

Once they were gone, and seeing that other wandering students were already handled by other staff members, he rushed to Lance’s room. He wasn’t in charge of dorm headcounts anyways, so there was no need to linger anymore. He knocked first on the door and waited. After knocking again and calling out to Lance and Hunk through the door, he lost his patience and opened the door. Going in, he took a look at the figures occupying the beds and quickly pulled off the blankets to reveal two lumps of pillows. Footsteps came up behind him and he turned to see their sister, Veronica, enter the room from behind him in a pant. She made eye contact with Adam before looking at the two makeshift dummies in dismay.

“This twerp,” She said as she face palmed. Adam could only nod in agreement.

Of course, their little brother would be going out right now. He and Veronica really should have never told him all their tips and tricks for sneaking out. Honestly, what were they even thinking?

The two of them tried calling him, but Lance just wasn’t picking up. He could try to go into town to search for him but that could result in him missing Lance when he did come back (not to mention that all entrances and exits were locked, and he was a teacher so he really shouldn’t go up and just leave now), so they resigned to contacting any open businesses in the nearby towns to report for any Garrison students. 

Oh, Goddess. It was times like these that made him wish that he could just put a tracker or something on his mischievous little brother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you liked this story, please leave a like and comment! I love reading comments and I love reading theories and ideas! So if you have something to say, shoot for the stars! Thanks! Hope ya'll have a good day and stay safe! :)
> 
> Also, can you guys guess who were the four students who were talking to Adam???


	2. You've Found Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Previously in "Chapter 1: Night Gone Wrong," the night went wrong. Instead of chilling in the city or chilling in their dorms, the Garrison trio found themselves saving Shiro alongside Garrison dropout Keith as wanted criminals. Meanwhile, Adam is locked inside the Garrison, as he freaks about where his rascal of a brother could have gone alongside the just as worried Veronica.
> 
> Warning! This chapter is full of feelings.

The sun was already peaking through, yet hardly anyone was able to sleep last night. 

Veronica and Adam were up all night worrying. They were trying to make calls to Lance's phone and to his best friend Hunk’s phone too, but they both weren’t picking up. At one point in the late night or early morning, their phones went straight to voicemail.

Did their phones die? Did they turn it off? Were their phones broken? Why isn’t he calling any of them through a payphone or something?

Seeing no other option, they also tried calling any business owners in the towns nearby to house and report any students that are now temporarily locked out of the Garrison facility. They got some calls back, but none of them were confirmed to be Lance or Hunk.

“Adam…” A delicate hand touched Adam’s shoulder from behind. The contact caused him to jolt awake from the brief moment of nodding off over a list of phone numbers. He turned to follow the hand to look up at Veronica. Her face was set into a soft expression of concern as she offered him a cup of coffee with cream and two sugars. He took the cup gratefully and drank it deeply.

Since Adam and Veronica were already on the phones, they were also tasked with making and taking calls from parents that got news of the lockdown and mysterious explosion from their uneasy children. The night really left them no rest, so the caffeine was such a Godsend.

“Mama and Papa called back,” Veronica started. He put the cup down. “She said that they couldn’t contact Lance and that Hunk’s family seemed unable to contact Hunk either... She said they’re all praying and that we should too...” They didn’t expect much better news, but it was still disappointing. Especially knowing that not even Hunk, the arguably more responsible of the two, wasn’t able to be contacted either. “Let’s go take a break and get something to eat, hm?”

He was about to gently refuse when his stomach grumbled. “Yeah.. okay.” He pushed out from his chair.

The two of them went to Adam’s living quarters to prepare a quick meal for the two of them, but before they could even sit down and take a bite, their attention was brought to the television sets. It was a televised Garrison announcement.

“Last night, three American Space Garrison cadets were declared dead after having taken off a cliff during a chase, though the bodies have yet to be found. Chances of survival from the fall are extremely low and it is believed that they may have moved locations or that wild animals may have dragged the bodies somewhere. Officials are still searching for evidence of the cadets-”

Everything felt surreal. His limbs suddenly felt heavy and detached, like he was suspended in thick molasses. Floating yet unmoving. He couldn’t breathe; pressure was being put everywhere on his body, squeezing his neck tightly, as the words passed through his muddled mind. 

“- here we have a clip of the three cadets escaping with two unknown persons.”

Yellow ribbon twisted as it trailed behind a trembling figure.

A dark green and white hoodie jacket flapped in the wind.  A jacket that one of their older brothers gave to Adam who later handed down to Lance.

There was no mistaking it.

He looked to his side and saw Veronica standing just as stiffly as him. There were tears in her eyes. 

“A-adam… Th-that’s him and Hunk-” Her voice was quivering.

He pulled her into a hug.

“That’s them, Adam!” Her knee buckled and they both went down to the floor, neither of them having the strength anymore, both of them shuddering into cries-the tears finally tipping over the edge.

He lost so much. So much!

He couldn’t handle this again. Not again. Please. Space has never brought him anything good. He lost everything to it, yet he kept on trying and trying again in this program to get a taste of what he could only experience now in dreams. And now? He lost another one of his most precious people. Why was he even here anymore? Why?  _ Why? _

Veronica pressed closer, pushing one of the metal buckles of his satchel bag into his skin. 

It hurted, so he looked down at the bag with bleary eyes and was reminded about its contents.

_ Why was he here? _ The news only said that they were declared dead, but they couldn’t find the bodies to be sure. And if they couldn’t find the bodies, weren’t they just missing?

“Veronica.” He ran his hand through her hair and she looked up at him in question. “We can’t lose hope just yet. They can’t just be  _ gone.  _ Don’t you feel like they released this statement too soon? There must be something else. Let’s go and try to find them.” 

“But,” she wiped her eyes a bit as she took in his words. “We’re still on lock down. There would be no way out.”

“We can take one of the Garrison cars. If we sneak into the Hanger now, we might be able to sneak out with one of the rotating security cars.” He put both hands on her shoulders with determination. “We can do this.” He looked into her eyes and she looked back, a spark coming back into her eyes. 

Yeah, that’s Veronica for you. A fighter like all McClains were, and so is Lance so he’s got to be out there too.

_ Don’t worry, Lance. I’m not going to lose you again. We’ll find you and bring you home soon. _

* * *

  
  


Shiro was waking up with the tickle of the golden sunlight coming through the windows. He felt groggy and confused. What was going on? Where was he?

“Shiro..” A soft and familiar voice came from the door frame. He sat up on the bed he laid on and turned his head to see a young man. He had dark, long hair and was standing stiffly, his hands were fisted into the bottom of his dark grey t-shirt. His head throbbed as flashes of a younger version of the boy in the same stiff and nervous position flashed through his mind. The pain suddenly subsided. 

“K-Keith?” His voice was a little rough.

Keith smiled sadly at Shiro.

Shiro let one arm out. “Come here.” 

The stiffness melted away as Keith crossed the short distance to kneel at the bed and entered Shiro’s strong embrace. Shiro held Keith’s head close, ruffling his wind tossed hair a bit while Keith’s arms encircled his waist. 

“I thought that you were dead! You were gone and I- I just-” A wetness was felt on Shiro’s shirt. “It was like when m-my dad-” He choked then, not wanting to continue any further but just feel the presence of Shiro there. 

Shiro had nothing to say because he thought he was dead too on multiple occasions. It’s a miracle he was here at all. All that could come out was, “I’m sorry, Keith.” He was so, so sorry. He left everything and everyone behind when he decided to go on the Kerberos space mission.

He lifted his right arm off of Keith’s back to look at his hand. The metal panels of the prosthetic glistened in the morning light. 

He’d lost so much.

“It’s not your fault, Shiro.” Keith lifted himself off of Shiro and then smiled. “I’m just glad you’re back.”

Shiro returned the smile. “I’m glad to be back too.”

They hugged one last time before Shiro had to ask, “What happened last night, Keith?”

Keith got up and went to a dresser to rummage through the drawers. “I got some sort of feeling a few nights ago and I felt like something was coming. It just so happened that that thing was you. The Garrison drugged you up when I got your ass and a couple of guys out there.” Keith handed him some clothes and a pair of boots he dug out of the closet. “Here. Sorry, this is all I had that could fit you.” Shiro nodded in appreciation. He took off the ragged purple shirt and put the vest over the one piece body suit he had underneath. 

“Guys?” Shiro asked.

“Yeah. They’re out in the living room. They are pretty adamant on meeting you.” 

Shiro got up and followed Keith out the door and followed him down the hall to the living room where three people were. The pain came back. Wait. Is that-

* * *

  
  


Lance was on the couch. Pidge and Hunk were next to him, talking about potential enhancements to Pidge’s ‘alien chatter radio’ as he looked around the living room area. It was a bit cluttered with some mugs and office supplies here and there, and there was something on one side of the room that was completely covered with a cloth. It was obvious that a lot of time was spent in this room. He was making guesses on what might be underneath when he suddenly got some sort of feeling-like a cool breeze causing a shiver to go down his spine.

“Lance?” Lance turned his head to see  _ him. _

“Shiro,” Lance stood up. “You’re okay.” He had helped with laying Shiro down earlier, but to actually see him there, standing freely and breathing, was-

It was just such a relief. “I’m so glad you’re okay!” He was about to take a step forward when he suddenly stopped himself. He suddenly felt very stiff - frozen. “What happened to you?”

Shiro’s shoulder slumped a bit, his eyes downcasting to the side. “I-I wish I could tell you, but everything is a little bit fuzzy… I was on an alien ship when I somehow escaped, then I somehow ended up here... Home.” He looked up at the little group, a slight smile of gratitude appearing as he straightened up his back. “I should thank you guys for getting me out of there, by the way.” He held his hand out to shake their hands, starting with the boy with the yellow shirt then planning to go all the way to his right. Before Lance could react to the offered hand, the small boy with the large glasses grabbed his hand first, showing no hesitance to his robotic prosthetic. Instead there was a brief gleam of fascination and then they introduced themselves with slight impatience. “I’m Pidge Gunderson and this nervous guy here-”

“Hey!”

“-is Hunk.” Pidge let go of Shiro’s hand. “You were on the Kerberos mission. Do you happen to know where the two other pilots with you are? Are...Are they alive?”

A sharp sensation shot through his head, travelling out in waves of pain. He gripped his head, hoping to relieve it. “Ugh-” There were others with him right? “I’m sorry. I seem to be having a headache. Who?”

Pidge and everyone’s faces twisted into confusion and concern. “Their names are Samuel and Matthew Holt… Um. Are you alright? Do you not remember them?”

The names sparked recognition and the pain started to melt away. “Sam… Matt? I remember them now. But-” He tries to think of where they could be right now or if they were even with him on the alien ship when the pain ripped through him once again and he was doubling over on the floor. “Ugh!”

“Shiro!” Lance and Keith both went to Shiro’s side in a rush. 

Lance was about to comfort him by resting his hand on Shiro’s arm, but he hesitated. He felt wrong for feeling uneasy about touching Shiro’s prosthetic, but he did and chose rather to move his hand in a circular motion around Shiro’s back.

“Shiro,” Keith pulled at Shiro’s other arm to pull him up. Lance on the other side. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Yeah. I’m okay.” He gave up and the pain began to seep away. “But I can’t remember what happened.” The disappointment was evident on Pidge’s face and Shiro felt guilty for not being able to remember. “I’m sorry, Pidge.”

“It seems like you suffered some sort of injury while you were in space that affected your memory,” Hunk said, patting Pidge’s shoulder in comfort. “Maybe we should be more careful about it next time.” 

“Yeah. Maybe you’re right.” It makes sense, but it didn’t make him feel better about the gaps in his mind.

“Well, we still need to get moving, and I think I know just the place to go to next.” Keith made sure that Shiro was supported by Lance before moving to the mysteriously cloaked object in the room. He pulled away a cloth to reveal a large cork board with maps, photos, post it notes, and red thread.

“Here.” He points to a map with overlapping circles. “When I left the Garrison, I was drawn to some sort of energy. I later found some series of caves that all have cave drawings left here from the indigenous people that once lived there. They have several stories written, but there’s one story in particular that caught my eye.” He pointed to a particular photo. “It was the story of some sort of lion pack and a lion god? I’m not too sure but there is a symbol that is always being repeated.” He points to another picture.

“Is that the letter ‘v’?” Hunk leans in to get a closer look and the stylistic outline of the “v.” Keith was about to say something when-

“It also symbolizes wings,” Lance said offhandedly. Hunk looked at him. He pointed at the picture. “Look at the picture of the god. He has wings of the same shape.”

“Yeah. Exactly. And when we got Shiro back, I was listening into their radio feeds and he said something about-,” Keith continued.

“Voltron.” Keith and Shiro turned to Pidge in surprise.

“How do you know that,” Keith asked a little too quickly.

“Other than the time I also heard Shiro say it when we also hacked the security feed?” Pidge dug through their bag to bring out their notebook. “I’ve been listening to extraterrestrial radio feeds and though I don’t understand what they are saying, they kept repeating one word: Voltron.” They pointed to the word in their notebook before looking wide eyed at Shiro. “Shiro, what does it mean?”

“I actually don’t know much about what Voltron is. From all I know is that it’s supposedly a weapon and that the aliens who I escaped from are desperately trying to find.” Shiro’s face turned from thoughtful apprehension into an expression of determination. “This ‘weapon’ must be nearby and we’ve got to get to it first.”

“But how will we find it? All we’ve got are these cave paintings. I haven’t seen anything that even closely resembles a weapon when I go exploring.” Keith leaned back against the board, arms crossed.

“Well, that’s actually not all that we’ve got.” Pidge flips through their journal until they stop at what they’re looking for. They show the group the page. “Other than the word ‘Voltron,’ I was also able to receive a series of numbers. I’m not sure what it means but it also came up multiple times before.”

Hunk, in particular, leaned in closely to the paper. “Actually… Hold up.” Pidge passed him the notebook to take a closer look. “This looks a lot like a Fraunhofer line.”

“A frown who,” Kieth asked.

“A Fraunhofer line. It’s a number that describes the emission number of an element. Each element has their own unique number, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen one like this. But of course, I haven’t gotten all of them memorized yet either.”

“Maybe this weapon thing is made by whatever element is giving off that admission number,” Lance said.

“Exactly. So maybe I can make some sort of Voltron Geiger counter that can help us find whatever this ‘Voltron’ weapon is.” By this point, Hunk was already scribbling in the notebook about his plans on how to build his contraption.

“That’s amazing, Hunk!” Pidge seemed particularly excited about this concept. 

“Thanks, Pidge.”

“Yeah that’s great.” Shiro quipped. “A good place to start would be at that line of caves where Kieth found those drawings. You think you can make this geiger counter on the way?”

“As long as Keith drives steady, I think I can manage.”

“Great.” Kieth clapped his hands together and leaned off the board. ” Then, let’s get going. I added a sidecar, so we should all fit fine for however long the bike lasts with all of us.” 

“Thank God. That thing was such a death trap. I can’t believe you had us ride that.”

“Well, it’s not made for so many people,  _ Lance.”  _

“Well, obviously not. What? You think I don’t know that?” 

“Wha- If you know then why did you even- Ugh! Nevermind. Let’s just get going.” Keith walked outside with a huff, grabbing his own helmet and a bag of what appeared to be old helmets. Pidge and Hunk followed him out to choose their helmets and to get settled down on the hoverbike. Lance smiled a bit at Keith’s reaction when he felt a cool and heavy hand on his shoulder and he couldn’t stop himself from jolting away. 

“Oops. Sorry, Lance.” Lance turned around to see that it was Shiro. He had both hands up in apology. “Didn’t mean to spook you, but you really shouldn’t tease Keith so much no matter how easily it is to get him to react.”

Lance subconsciously held his shoulder where he was touched when he saw Shiro’s eyes land on the spot. His eyes looked a little hurt and Lance dropped his hand to his side. “Sorry, Shiro. It’s kinda hard not to. We were in the same classes for God’s sake! He’s so hard to communicate with!” 

Shiro chuckled at Lance’s frustrations. Yeah, Keith wasn’t the easiest to get along with. “Well, how about we give him another chance, yeah? I’m not too sure what happened while I was gone, but right now might not be the best of times.”

“Fine..” He huffed a bit, curling in on himself with his arms crossed. Why did Shiro always have to be right?

“Atta boy.” He ruffled Lance’s hair and started walking when Lance called him.

“Um, Shiro?” His voice was soft and nervous. The aggravation from the mere thought of Keith gone. 

“Yeah, Lance?” He turned back from the open door. Lance stood there like the nervous version of Keith just moments before.

“Adam…” Another spark of pain behind Shiro’s eyes, but there was also a tight, suffocating squeeze in his chest. Months and months of regret and guilt flooded him all at once. Deep caramel skin, crystal blue eyes, a dazzling smile and a fighting attitude… Something he let go off a long time ago. He couldn’t look at Lance with his likeness toward Adam. He turned back from him, to face back out the door, before Lance continued. “He… he doesn’t forgive you, you know.” The pain in his head had already subsided, but the one in his chest hurts even more now. It was probably evident to Lance, with how Shiro’s head dipped and his shoulders scrunched up stiffly to his neck.

Even so, Lance continued, but more confidently and with force. “But he also said that he’d die before he ever stopped loving you.” 

Shiro turned back at that, surprise and relief on his face. His voice was almost small.. testing… when he responded. “He really said that?”

Barely a beat was missed. “Well, he also said you’re a dumbfuck for not listening to him. Don’t worry tho, he kept that part out during your eulogy.” Lance grinned widely, and Shiro grinned back though he felt one more additional tug from the mention of a funeral. He wiped some tears he didn’t know he had, from his eyes with a light laugh. Sometimes, Lance didn’t have a filter, but he sure knew how to do things that could cheer someone up. 

Even so, now wasn’t the time. Regathering his emotions, he regained his composure. “Thanks, Lance. It means a lot to me. So now, let’s get down to business.” A smirk was on his face as he watched Lance’s expression for what he knew was to come. 

Lance had lit up brightly with a smile and a light in his eyes. And Shiro couldn’t help but smile fondly as he watched Lance mouth “to defeat the Huns” underneath his breath before he began walking forward toward the others, Lance close behind in like minded determination. 

Shiro’s got a new mission now. And this time, he was going to complete it.  _ At the end of all this,  _ Shiro thought,  _ this time... I’m going to come back to you, Adam.  _

  
  


* * *

  
  


It was still a tight fit, but it was a lot more comfortable with the extended space and the addition of helmets. It didn’t take long before they stopped in front of one of the more prominent caves Keith pointed out. The Voltron Geiger beeped, calling them into the unknown.

All over the walls of the cave were carvings, showing the story of the lions Keith told them about. The carvings were beautiful , stretching from the opening of the cave to as far into the cave as they could see. Though the paint has faded, you could still see the intricate designs bringing to life the characters on the wall.

Keith led them in. “It seems that the story of the lions starts at the entrance. It talks about how one of the lions fell from the sky one night and how it would talk to people and tell them stories. Most of these stories talk about that lion god. I haven’t gotten the chance to really see all the stories, but that god keeps showing up almost everywhere.”

They walked deeper into the cave. Everyone has their flashlights turned on at this point. The geiger was beeping stronger and stronger the more they continued forward. 

This must be the right place.

“The people who could talk to the lion were given instructions to paint all of these, actually,” Kieth continued.

“Why,” Pidge asked. Her hand brushed along the carvings as she passed them.

Everyone stopped. They have reached the end of the tunnel, and the geiger was beeping in rapid succession. Hunk turned it off. They were here.

“They must have wanted someone to find whatever this Voltron weapon was. This must be the spot, but I don’t see anything.” Hunk was right. There was nothing around but more engraving, including a more extravagant display of the ‘Lion God.’

“There must be some sort of entrance somewhere.” Shiro took a glance around. “Let’s split up. Maybe there is some sort of secret entryway or something.” No one cared to point out how cliché of an action that was. It didn’t matter how odd the action may feel to do; this situation is already odd enough. 

The group split up to walk up to the walls and pat it down in hope to find a button or something. Everyone but Lance. 

It was probably from the cold. Or maybe from the eeriness of the cave, but there's just something about this place. Was he afraid? Was he excited? Why is there a feeling of odd familiarity? That engraving on the wall- the one with the god and his lion pack- why was it-

He reached his hand out brush up against the engraving of one of the lionesses with faded blue paint, when all the engravings suddenly started glowing blue, starting from where Lance touched then out. The ground shook and with the cracks that were rapidly forming, blue light broke through. 

“Whoa- wh-what’s going on!” Pidge tried to keep her balance. Hunk came up to their side to help steady them. 

“I think I touched something!” Lance shouted. The shaking continued until the ground gave way, causing everyone to tumble down into the abyss beneath them.

“AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!”

_ Splash! _

They ended up falling into a pool of cool water that was deep enough to break their falls. They dragged themselves out of the water; water droplets dripping off their frames.

“Everyone alright,” Shiro asked as he slicked back his wet hair out of his eyes. A chorus of ‘I’m good’s came when it was followed by gasps. Everyone found themselves looking about the cavern that they were in. It was lit up by millions of glowing organisms. Some looked like glow worms, others were mushrooms, and others were flowers. Even some of the rocks had a soft blue shine to them. But what really got everyone’s attention was of a large blue holographic-like barrier that contained an even bigger surprise- a gigantic robotic lioness.

The robot had silver and blue plates. It’s eyes, and other parts that looked like accent lights, were grey, as if the robot was turned off.

“So the lions were actually robots this whole time.” It was amazing to look at, and Hunk was caught in awe at how such a thing was possible. “Is this Voltron?” He would have liked to turn on the geiger to double check, but it got damaged from the fall.

“It must be,” Shiro said.

“Well, how are we going to get in?” Keith stepped up to the barrier, pressing his palm against it to check its strength. It felt solid despite its holographic nature. Was it some sort of energy field? It appears so. There was some sort of thrumming sensation underneath his hand. 

Lance stepped up behind Keith to stand with him in front of the barrier. He felt a strong pull in his core. 

It felt… familiar?

He reached his hand out, his fingertips brushing the barrier before he flattened his palm against it. He felt energy trickle up his arm and saw fluid ripples in the solidity of the field. “Maybe, we just need to knock.” It was a dumb thing to say, but it was the first thing that popped into his head. He removed his hand to rap against it, willing for it to open up to let them in. 

And it did.

The barrier broke, sending a thunderous gust of wind as the Blue Lion roared into an activated state. It’s eyes glowed a bright yellow as blue accent lights flared into a soft glow. The cave shook and water was sprayed about with the force of the thunderous sound. 

Yet it wasn’t scary. 

No, instead, everyone felt in awe. 

  
A voice rang out, powerful and angelic. It spoke without words, but it spoke nonetheless, sending out an energy that washed over Lance in waves. And it said,  _ “You’ve found me.” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Please comment and leave a like! 💙 Sorry this chapter took so long to post, so many things have been happening. 
> 
> Anyways, hope you guys liked this chapter! Please tell me about any parts you liked/hated/loved because I love feedback and would like to know what you guys think! It helps get my writing spirit going! ✨
> 
> Personally, my favourite part was the part where Adam said he'll love Shiro until he dies and when Shiro said he will come back to Adam this time. Adam technically does in canon while Shiro technically doesn't so- :')


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